Most of us have been trapped indoors with our preschoolers for days on end at this point. Some without power. I find myself in a situation of desperation, trying to come up with something...anything...to solve the boredom problem. This is not just a matter of entertaining my kiddos--it's a matter of mama's SANITY.
So, I've compiled a list to keep our little ones
1. Buttons. My girls (Emmy-1 1/2 and Mackenzie-3 1/2) have played with a bag of buttons for hours over the last two days. HOURS. I simply poured a bag onto the kitchen floor and gave them various cups and spoons with which to play. Emmy loves to pour and stir and "cook." Mackenzie loves to sort by color/size, thread onto spaghetti noodles, make shapes and letters, and make patterns. Let's just say I'm a fan.
2. Finger paint. I'd like to give full credit to our dear friend Sarah Burton for this awesome idea. Put your kids in the bathtub without water, and give them free reign over some finger paint. Brushes optional. They can paint themselves, the tub, each other. For our household, it amounted to about 45 minutes of silence...er, entertainment. When the fun is over, simply use water and a washcloth to clean them off and then let them take a bath (read: another 30 min of silence). The Branham girls may end up with very dry skin if this snow doesn't melt soon.
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(yes, I took about 9,271 pictures before I got this 'G-rated' one)
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3. Play-doh with spaghetti noodles and cereal. This activity was great for the girls to sit at the table while I made dinner. The fun lasted longest for the child who refrained from eating all of the cereal in the first five minutes. Ok, so Emmy ended up eating cereal for dinner, but whatever. It was multi-grain ok?
4. Paper chains. This is a great activity for ages 3+. Mackenzie picked out colors of construction paper, used my scrapbook paper trimmer to cut strips, and a "SMALL DOT!" of glue to make paper chains. She has enjoyed this quiet activity in the mornings while Emmy is still sleeping. She likes making patterns and choosing shapes like hearts and circles. She's asked to make a diamond one tomorrow.
5. Snow cream! We collected a bowl of snow and made our own snow cream. I'm a believer that sprinkles make almost anything better. Disclaimer: This may be a good activity to do just before going outside to burn some energy.
That's it for this edition of "Keeping Mama Sane." Please comment below and tell us what you've been doing to keep busy these last two weeks!
I'll leave you with this---Do you want to build a snowman?
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